UNIT 1 Flashcards
What is the difference between a somatic cell and a germline cell?
somatic is any cell in the body other than cells involved in reproduction, its diploid
Germline cell are gametes and the stem cell that divides to form gametes. its haploid
What is the difference between haploid and diploid chromosome complement?
Haploid cells have 23 single chromosomes (one set of chromosomes) , while diploid cells have 23 pairs of homologous chromosomes.(2 sets of chromosome = 46 single)
What type of cell division is carried out by a somatic stem cell ?
Mitosis to produce more somatic cells.
What type of cell division is carried out by a Germline stem cell ?
-Divide by mitosis to produce more germline stem cells.
- Divide by meiosis to produce haploid gametes
Describe the process of meiosis.
Meiosis involves two divisions :
1- first separate homologous chromosomes and
2- then separate chromatids.
Describe the process of differentiation.
Differentiation is the process by which a cell expresses certain genes to produce proteins characteristic of that cell type, allowing it to carry out specialized functions.
Why are cells of the very early embryo described as pluripotent?
Cells in the very early embryo are pluripotent, meaning they can differentiate into all the cell types that make up the individual.
What is the role of tissue stem cells?
Tissue stem cells are involved in the growth, repair, and renewal of the cells found in that tissue.
Why are tissue stem cells described as multipotent, and give an example?
Tissue stem cells are multipotent, meaning they can differentiate into all the cell types found in a particular tissue.
such as blood stem cells located in bone marrow producing red blood cells, platelets, and lymphocytes.
Describe therapeutic and research uses of stem cells.
Stem cells have therapeutic uses in repairing damaged or diseased organs,
and research uses in studying disease development and drug testing.
What are possible ethical issues of using embryonic stem cells?
the use of embryonic stem cells can offer effective treatment for injuries however it involves the destruction oif embryos.
Describe how cancer cells form , develop and spread throughout the body?
Cancer cells divide excessively as they don’t respond to regulatory signals .
this leads to a mass of abnormal cells known as tumour.
The cells within the tumour may fail to attach and spread throughout the body forming a secondary tumour.
Describe the structure of DNA.
DNA is two strands twisted to form a double helix
Identify the parts of a DNA nucleotide.
A DNA nucleotide is made up of a phosphate, deoxyribose sugar, and one of the four DNA bases.
Name the component which is found at the 3’ end and at the 5’ end of a nucleotide.
The deoxyribose sugar is found at the 3’ end,
the phosphate is found at the 5’ end of a nucleotide.
Explain how DNA nucleotides join to form a strand of DNA.
The nucleotides bond the sugar to the phosphate to form the sugar-phosphate backbone of the DNA strand.
Explain why the DNA strands are described as antiparallel.
The DNA strands run at the opposite direction
State the base pairing rule between the DNA bases.
Adenine pairs with thymine, and guanine pairs with cytosine.
Name the type of bond which forms between DNA bases.
Hydrogen bonds
State when DNA replication occurs.
DNA is replicated prior to cell division.
Name the enzyme that replicates DNA.
DNA Polymerase
Describe the structure and function of a primer.
A primer is a short strand of nucleotides that binds to the 3’ end of the template DNA strand,
allowing DNA polymerase to add new DNA nucleotides.
Describe how DNA unwinds and unzips to form two template strands.
Prior to replication, the DNA double helix is unwound and the hydrogen bonds between the bases are broken, forming two template strands.
Name the end of the new DNA molecule which DNA polymerase adds nucleotides to.
DNA polymerase adds nucleotides to the 3’ end of the new DNA strand.
Explain why the leading strand is replicated continuously and the lagging strand is replicated in fragments.
because DNA polymerase can only add nucleotides in the 5’ to 3’ direction.
Name the enzyme which joins the fragments of the lagging strand.
DNA Ligase
Describe the role of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
PCR amplifies DNA using complementary primers for specific target sequences.
Describe the structure and function of a primer used in PCR.
primers are short strands of nucleotides that are complementary to specific target sequences at the two ends of the region of DNA to be amplified.
Describe the process of PCR?
1- DNA is heated to between 92°C and 98°C to separate the strands
2- It is then cooled to between 50°C and 65°C to allow primers to bind to specific target sequences.
3- It is then heated to between 70°C and 80°C for heat tolerance DNA polymerase to replicate the target region of DNA
Give examples of practical applications of PCR.
PCR can be used to amplify DNA to help solve crimes, settle paternity suits, and diagnose genetic disorders.
Explain how macromolecules, such as DNA fragments, can be separated using electrophoresis.
as DNA is negatively charged and is attracted towards a positive charge, with the smaller fragments traveling further in the gel.
Describe the structure of RNA.
RNA is single-stranded and composed of nucleotides containing ribose sugar, phosphate, and one of four bases.
Compare the structure of RNA to the structure of DNA.
DNA is double-stranded and contains deoxyribose sugar and thymine, while RNA is single-stranded and contains ribose sugar and uracil.
Describe the role of mRNA.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) carries a copy of the DNA code from the nucleus to the ribosome for protein synthesis.
State the term used to describe each triplet of bases on mRNA.
Each triplet of bases on mRNA is called a codon and codes for a specific amino acid.